Today in history, greetings, and social banter here. (More)
The Babylonians captured Jerusalem today (597 BCE). Also, Ferdinand Magellan reached the Philippines (1521), Prince Willem became the first constitutional monarch of the Netherlands (1815), the Wanderers F.C. won the first English Football Association Cup (1872), archeologist Arthur Evans began his work on the ruins of Knossos in Crete (1900), Robert Goddard launched the first liquid fuel rocket (1926), the Ford Motor Company produced its 50 millionth automobile (1958), General Motors produced its 100 millionth automobile (1968), and Oliver North and John Poindexter were indicted on charges related to the Iran-Contra Scandal (1988). And Mississippi formally ratified the Thirteenth Amendment (1995).
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The Janitor Professor of Astrology insists he was not watching the NCAA basketball tournaments while researching this week’s Bippiescopes….
Pisces: The stars may double-team you with conflict this weekend. Or it may be family.
Aries: Take a step back from the pressure this weekend. If you can shoot the three-pointer.
Taurus: You may need to call a timeout this weekend. Diagram your plans on a clipboard.
Gemini: Plan to entertain people this weekend. Do that reverse spinning dunk with lettuce.
Cancer: Don’t argue with the celestial referees this weekend. Even if they are blind.
Leo: Be ready to coach friends and family this weekend. But don’t make them run laps again.
Virgo: Surround yourself with supporters this weekend. Make plenty of pom-poms.
Libra: Reach out to friends and family this weekend. But don’t get in foul trouble.
Scorpio: Quiet solitude would be wonderful this weekend. If you can get open.
Sagittarius: Resist the urge to gossip this weekend. Just call the play-by-play.
Capricorn: Enjoy time with friends and family this weekend. Run the kitchen pick-and-roll.
Aquarius: Exercise your imagination this weekend. But don’t dribble your coffee.
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Good morning! ::hugggggs::
Yesterday on Campus
Morning Feature– Winning Progressive with The Advancement Project: On the Front Lines of the Voter ID Battle
Furthermore! – NCrissieB with Stand Whose Ground?
Midday Matinee – triciawyse with Fursdai Critters
Campus Question – Should NCAA and Southern Miss investigate taunting of Kansas State player?
Our Earth – Calculating Sea Level Rise
Today on Campus
Morning Feature – Winning Progressive with Extend Workplace Protection to In-Home Caregivers
Noontime News at noon
Midday Matinee at 2pm ET – triciawyse with Friedai Critters
Campus Question at 6pm ET
Evening Focus at 7pm – Smartypants with The subtle racism of ascribing success to luck
Our Earth at 8pm ET – New Frog Species Noted At Last
I won’t be around this weekend, as I’ll be at the Florida Democratic Party State Leadership Conference. It will be a busy weekend, and I’ll write about it in Things We Did This Week on Monday.
Winning Progressive will host Morning Feature tomorrow, and we’ll have a special Ask Addisnana Morning Feature Sunday.
I will be back Sunday afternoon. Have a great weekend, y’all!
Good morning! ::hugggggs::
Have a great conference, Crissie! Learn lots of cool stuff.
Good morning. My internet is still not fixed, and I may have to call them again this morning. It’s working better sometimes, but e-mails are getting delayed by as much as nine hours, web access is sluggish and as happened yesterday, intermittent at times.
I missed the live streaming video of the new Obama documentary, and that certainly ticked me. It would have been nice to see it. I’m in the market for good news.
The documentary was very well done and a reminder of all that has been accomplished. I believe it will be available for viewing at barackobama.com for quite a while.
Good morning. Well, Mr. W just left for a trip to Des Moines for needed credits to renew his license. He’s taking a one day course on Ethics. Before he left, he told me the name of the man presenting today, and the fact that he is a well known Republican. Before I could stop myself I blurted out ‘What does he know about ethics?’ Well, it turns out that Mr. W shares my skepticism, but the course is needed so he is going to try and bite his tongue for 8 hours today.
Knowing him as I do, I hope he still has a tongue left tonight.
What a thought! Surely there must be an ethical Republican or two left. Or surely regulation, law or standards must dictate what he teaches?
I hope Mr. W’s tongue survives. I know it would be all but impossible for me right now to keep my mouth shut.
I bet you’ll get an earful tonight if he is still able to speak. Then again, maybe the curriculum is set enough that the instructor’s personal opinions will be minimized. I’ll be waiting for the update.
Republican Course on Ethics, Syllabus:
1. It’s Okay If You’re A Republican: Theory and Applications (2 hrs)
2. Projection 101: Blame Democrats for What You’re Doing, Then Say “Both Sides Make These Accusations” (1 hr)
— Lunch at Lesbian Bondage Club (2 hrs) —
3. Ethical Defenses: Blaming the Liberal Media, How to Construct a Conspiracy Theory That Blames Democrats (2 hrs)
4. Last Ditch Defenses: Friends In High Places (1 hr)
Good morning! ::hugggggs::
I always hated – still do actually – the “required continuing education” or recertification courses. It’d be nice if they gave you really up-to-date or new information, but the majority of the ones I’ve been stuck in just repeat exactly the same information you learned the first 4 times you took the class.
Republican morals score high on ingroup/loyalty, authority/respect, and purity/sanctity while Liberals score high on harm/care, fairness/reciprocity (including issues of rights). A number of quizzes are on the YourMorals.Org web site.
Good Morning. Minnesota sexual politics has taken an interesting turn. Former Senate majority leader Amy Koch is former because she was having an inappropriate relationship with a male staffer. She is still a state senator. The staffer, Michael Brodkorb was fired. He is threatening a lawsuit because he can name male legislators from both parties who had affairs with female staffers and the women were not terminated. Quite a hot place, our state legislature.
Well, that should provide an interesting diversion from the usual manure. 😉 So now we know what the people’s servants are doing at work. The mystery is solved! 😆
This is precisely why state senators should only have affairs with lobbyists. 😉
Good morning! ::hugggggs::
I was thinking there are probably some folks in the bunch who were quite happy that contraceptives were still available. 🙂
A few days ago, I received a letter from my property insurer: the state managed Citizens Insurance. Thinking it was my annual bill (it always comes early) I didn’t open it until today.
What I found was a notice that my insurance had been assumed by a company I never heard of and that my agent consented to this. Now, my agent was supposed to contact me before consenting (according to the law) and never did. I have two weeks to object to this assumption and no information whatever about the insurer, the premium or the coverage.
I am not happy and sent off a smoking e-mail.
Rick Scott would really, really like to shut down Citizens Insurance. Fortunately for Floridians, the state legislature blocked a bill that would have allowed private insurers to pick up Citizens Insurance policies … without the homeowner’s consent.
Good morning! ::hugggggs::
Hi Winter, I hope you see this post. Is this something the new Consumer’s bureau could look at? I don’t know if they handle this, since it’s Property Insurance, but the fact that the broker changed your Insurer without the proper notifications seems suspicious.
I do hope you can resolve this quickly.
Good morning!
Well, the thunderstorms yesterday evening didn’t scare old old dog Cleo for once……. She’d died earlier after exploratory surgery to attempt to determine why she’d been refusing food and water the past week. Made it through the inconclusive surgery, but died shortly thereafter. She is sorely missed…..
Whenever any one of us was outside, she was right there. Used to nap in the shade up by the garden hill, no matter how long you were out there. Always ready for a walk, to the point where we had to spell out w-a-l-k, like you’d do with a child, or she’d be bouncing up and down. As soon as I walked out the door each morning, she was right there by me. Every day. Without fail. All day long……..
This past week, the bounce was all gone. Wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t drink, just lay out in the woods. But if you made the effort to find her, (and sometime she could not be found), she’d wag that old tail as she could in response to some conversation and petting. I miss her a ton already.
So with apologies to Red Foley and Willis Arthur: “But if dogs have a heaven, there’s one thing I know, Old Cleo has a wonderful home.”
Thank you for your kind words and support over these last few trying days.
Best, Gardener
Hugs, Gardener, hugs.
Hugs from our house, G.
Major hugs, Gardener. Big, big hugs.
I’m sorry to hear that. 😥
So sorry for your pain, Gardener. I’ve lost pets and know how wrenching it is. Please know you’re in our thoughts and prayers, and we all send you lots of ::hugggggs::
Thank you for your kind words, blessings to you all…..
I’m sorry to here that, Gardener.
It’s so hard to lose such a loved member of the household. My thoughts are with you and Pioneer Woman.
Hugs to you both.
Good morning, folks. Well, I didn’t step on any nails yesterday, but I did have to wait two hours before the person that owns the land showed up with my supplies and chased the bulls out of the area I was working on. Fortunately, I had things I could do in town, so I ran those errands while I waited. I got everything on my list finished with the exception of finishing up making plexiglass windows for the shed. I need a table saw to do that, and I don’t own one yet. I’m borrowing one on Monday so I can finish up.
I’m in the middle of drawing a set design for a play called “The Porch.” The theatre is doing a lot of shows I’m not familiar with this year – which is good. Lets me see new material, and keeps me on my toes.
Weatherwise, currently 52 here with a high expected of 75, and a 50-50 chance of thunderstorms today. It did rain overnight. Probably a good thing I can’t get the saw until Monday…
Good thing you had errands to do while you waited. I’d be excited about doing new plays, too. Fresh stuff to sink your teeth into. Great news. 🙂
How much is involved in making those plexiglass windows?
I have to cut the plexiglass to size – which can be tricky in itself. You go too fast or too slow and the plexi cracks. Then I have to make tracks so the plexi can slide open when necessary. That’s what I need the table saw for. I need to cut a rabbet (a groove along an edge of a board – creating an offset) so that the plexi can slide side to side without coming out. Since I’m using 2×4 as my material, it’s not safe to try to do it with a circular saw, and not practical to do with a router.
This sounds like a really tough job to me, trs. Best of luck with it. I hope every cut goes well and safely.
Will the set design include a porch swing? Seems like it should, just coz…. 😉
Good morning! ::hugggggs::
I wanted it to, but the director said no. My concern is she wants a roof over the porch – not fun to light. I have to try to design the roof so I can tuck lights in it.
Good morning. It’s currently 38 degrees here, and predicted to be wet today. We had some rain yesterday evening, and it’s still drizzling. From what I can see, the Republicans are still competing at “I’m stupider than you are!” 🙄
Ah well. In really cool science news, they found a new species of frog. In New York City. Turns out one of the leopard frogs they thought was one species is actually a different species. 😆
Are they sure those frogs are different species, and not just registered with different parties? 😉
Good morning! ::hugggggs::
The Republican competition for the bottom of the pit is stunning. I think I’m going to mostly try to avoid it for a few days. I’m sure they’ll commit enough outrage without me.
I saw that about the frogs. 🙂 It’s really cool, a new species and in NYC.
In the Way Too Cute For Words category:
Good morning! ::hugggggs::
Looks like they’re on their way to becoming best buddies. 😀
1….. 2……. 3……
AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey Gardener, sorry to hear about your puppy…